We’re excited to announce that LADOT crews will be installing approximately 20 miles of new shared-lane markings — or “sharrows” — in neighborhoods across the city. Sharrows are intended to supplement the bicycle lane network in Los Angeles by:

Assist bicyclists in positioning themselves within narrow lanes so that they may ride safely next to passing automobiles.

Assist drivers with a safe passing distance for bicycles.

Indicate the shared-use nature of the road so that motorists are aware of the presence of cyclists and drive accordingly.

Encourage bicyclists to ride with traffic, as opposed to against it.

As you can see, sharrows are a safety asset for both cars and bikes; drivers will know where to expect cyclists and can judge a safe passing distance, while cyclists can judge their distance outside of the “door zone” and also know to ride in the direction of traffic. Finally, sharrows do not affect the operation of the roadway, remove travel lanes, or displace parking. So motorists may continue to use the road as they always have, except with a more cautious eye towards cyclists. For more information on sharrows, check out our Sharrows 101 post.

A sharrow on top of a preliminary spray paint marking. LADOT has since updated the marking to be an X with an arrow indicating the direction the sharrow points.

Over the course of the next year, LADOT will install about 20 miles of new sharrows throughout Los Angeles. Check the list above of upcoming sharrows to see if any are coming to your area! If so, you may see some preliminary markings on the road in spray paint to indicate to our crews where to install the actual sharrow.